Small businesses suffering from dip in sales hope to bounce back on Black Friday
MINNEAPOLIS — At La Rose and Company in Chanhassen - the holiday shopping selection is vast. A little too vast if you ask the co-owner Sarah La Rose.
"We literally walk in and dust off the jackets because they have been sitting for a while," she said.
They have yet to sell one jacket as of late November, and attribute that to the late fall weather.
"I know people don't always think about it but we are always before the season and naturally we do that but when the season keeps going and going on, you're like wait a minute, we need that cold air so people want to dress warmer," she said.
Across the metro, Statement in the North Loop is having a tricky season as well.
"We had a bit of a slower summer and then August and September hit and we were so busy, and we were really busy in September selling our fall and winter merchandise, sweaters, dresses, pants, jackets. I was very very very surprised by that. I thought that would maybe continue into October and it hasn't," said owner Molly Blanski.
The national group Boutique Hub tells WCCO that some boutique business are down 30% in sales year to year. Others say they've been down dramatically since July, but post-election, winter clothes sales have started to pick up.
However, for stores that order seven months ahead and have major holiday inventory, that means a back-up which will give customers a leg up on bargains.
"We are going to do a bigger Black Friday Sale than we thought, Small Business Saturday just to try and move the product," said La Rose.
She will have 30% off outerwear on Black Friday and 30% off everything on Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. She will also participate in Santa Clause Lane.
According to Boutique Hub, shoppers are shopping less often compared to 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Boutique owners say every sale counts in their small shops, so they are asking customers to shop local and in the meantime both La Rose and Statement Boutiques are active on Instagram.
